Friday, April 20, 2012

buttermilk pear cake

My goodness! When I went to write a blog post, I discovered Blogger completely changed the format overnight and I am lost. Forgive any visual glitches - I have no time to figure this out this morning.

I brought home the most wonderful bag of small pears the other day, and was suddenly reminded of an old recipe, given to me , oh - probably 30 years ago.

You make a soft dough and press into a tart or cake pan, arrange sliced pears on top, and add streusel and voila! I often make these as little tarts, but I thought I'd try a little cake with my new 6 inch cake tins. It's a terrific size for 2 or 3 people and it came out beautifully.

Makes one 6 inch cake

To make:

Preheat oven to 350F.

Butter a small 6 inch cake pan, or two or three tartlette pans.

The topping:

1/2 t. ginger

1/2 c. sugar

2 T. soft, unsalted butter

1/4 t. nutmeg

1 t. grated lemon zest

pinch of kosher salt

Mix the ingredients well and set aside.

The pears:

2 medium pears, unpeeled but cored, sliced

The dough:

1 c. King Arthur all purpose flour

2 t. baking powder

pinch of kosher salt

1 T. of the topping

3 T. soft unsalted butter

1/2 cup buttermilk

Mix in mixer bowl or food processor just until combined into a soft dough.

Press the dough into the cake pan or tart tins.

Sprinkle a little topping on top of the dough.

Arrange the pear slices in a circle .

Sprinkle with the rest of the topping.

Bake for 36 minutes or until top is golden.

Let cool briefly, and run a dull knife around the cake.

Tip onto a plate, then top with another plate and flip back.

Serve beautifully.

Exciting weekend for me - my daughter is getting married! What are you up to? Hope it's wonderful!

11 comments:

Your photos are always lovely, Katrina. You have such a good eye. And the pear cake sounds divine.

I am planning to make a variation of your crustless quiche next week. I'm having a very small luncheon to celebrate my mother. She will be turning 90 in the fall and I thought I'd have a few small parties for her, over the next months. If I am not imposing, could you suggest a tossed salad to go along with the quiche? I had thought to make a spinach and strawberry salad but then I don't think I should put spinach in the quiche. Any suggestions?

If you scroll down on the right side of my blog, you'll find a salads link - off the top of my head, I like the bok choy salad with little mandarin oranges, - nice and crunchy with a little sweetness. I remember making a watermelon salad with, I think arugula and gorgonzola crumbles. The sweet cabbage and spinach veggie salad is nice, too - and I LOVE the Finnish cucumbers, which are super easy and very refreshing any time of year. Hope I've been able to give you a few good ideas:)

What a beautiful salutation to Marianne on her mother's 90th birthday, Barb! I join you (belatedly) in wishing her Mom a joyful birthday! Such a nice way to celebrate, instead of one huge party, Marianne. Sorry - I was thinking about your question and jumped right in, didn't I:)

Hi Katrina,Congratulations on your daughters wedding! anD i must say it is commendable that you are able to Blog on that week! Here in India, if ones daughters getting married, one would be busy 3-4 months ahead, with little time to breathe! But then, our normal weddings would put that of hte British monarchy to shame, in size and scale! :) I have one question - when you say soft dough, what do you mean? Is it a bread dough or a muffin dough...? not able to relate.. pls help.. this sounds like a wonderful recipe and i so want to make it....

Deepali - this is an informal wedding - my daughter and partner's choice:) I saw an Indian wedding in a movie and thought it was marvelous - so colorful and carefully organized down to the last detail.A soft dough is simply not a sticky dough, not a firm ball of pugh as for a pie crust. When you gather it into a ball, it should feel soft and light. Since this is pressed into a cake pan or tart pan, it is not rolled out with a rolling pin. It would be more like a biscuit dough: biscuit meaning a roll, not a cookie. I hope this helps?

Thank you for the suggestions! And my congratulations to you, Katrina, and to your daughter on this very special occasion! Much happiness to her and her partner. I think informal weddings are the best! My son got married in upstate New York last summer. They hired a taco truck to cater the food! How's that for informal?!

And BTW, I am NOT liking the changes here on blogspot. I was very comfortable before. Now I have to relearn everything!

I guess I missed this about your daughter, but I send my best Congratulattion to her, her partner and to you on such a wonderful, happy occasion. May they enjoy a wonderful, joyful life and future together. I sincerely send my best wishes of happiness to them and to you!!!